


spill your tears, it’s okay

by natromanoffs



Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, or is it romantic, platonic zoey/max, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23251270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natromanoffs/pseuds/natromanoffs
Summary: takes place after 1x06.Zoey is still reeling from the events of last night: her dad’s fall, the engagement party, everything. Turns out it’s really hard to do work when you’re stressing about a billion things at once. Turns out Max is there for her no matter what.
Relationships: Zoey Clarke & Max Richman, Zoey Clarke/Max
Comments: 8
Kudos: 84





	spill your tears, it’s okay

**Author's Note:**

> takes place the day after 1x06. i’m really into these two lately so here we go. we need more fics in this fandom!! this show is the best <3
> 
> title from the song ‘put it all on me’ by phil good

Zoey wakes up with a pounding headache. She’s not sure if it’s due to the hangover, the anxiety, or a mix of the two, but either way -- it fucking hurts.

She gets dressed with her head still a blur, hoping her sweater matches the button down she throws it over, but knowing she’s not focused enough to style herself perfectly.

It takes her a minute to wrap her brain around all that happened yesterday. Her dad’s fall is the first thing to cross her mind, and she tears up just thinking about it. She can’t lose him. He was doing fine, he seemed to even be getting better, but this incident changes things. It’s a jolt back to reality, a reminder that although things may seem brighter, her dad’s still not doing well, and she could lose him at any second.

She swipes at the tears on her face, trying to focus on the other events of last night so she’ll get a grip.

She can’t believe she literally burned down Simon and Jessica’s relationship. Literally set it to flames. Things with Simon were clearly going terrible, and she’d been a mess, but she would have gotten through it. She just needed to slap her emotions in the face once she got undrunk and focus on getting over him. But now it’s all out in the open, and she’s somehow become a bit of a homewrecker.

But, Max. Thank god for Max. She’s still not sure if the song he sang to her last night was platonic or romantic -- she really thought he’d gotten over her once he began dating Autumn. Still, either way, he was the one shining part of the night. She’d been a drunk, panicking disaster, and he’d got her through the whole thing. He’d even gone to the hospital with her and hadn’t left until her dad was settled at home. Without him there, she’s not sure what she would have done. Honestly, she probably would have broken down outside the party. 

  


She goes to work and tries her very best to focus. She’s already on her third cup of coffee when she notices that Simon doesn’t appear to be in his office. She’s not sure it’s such a good idea to talk to him -- both Mo and her mom warned against it -- but she’s been thinking about it. A few more hours pass and there’s still no sign of him. The coffee’s just making her jittery at this point, and she knows she won’t settle down until she just checks to see if he’s there. She quickly gets up from her desk and strides toward his office, trying to project as much confidence as possible.

When she gets to his office, she realizes it’ll look weird if she just peaks in. So she takes a deep breath and swings the door open. Empty. He’s not here. The realization throws a lump in her throat. She makes her way back to her desk, void of an ounce of confidence or pep in her step. She feels Max’s eyes on her as she slides back into her chair, but she makes a point of not glancing in his direction.

She tries her very best to focus on her work, but as it turns out, it’s really hard to focus when your brain is over caffeinated and worrying about multiple non-work related things at once.

  


By the time the sun sets, Zoey’s on her seventh cup of coffee and is finding it harder and harder to get anything done. But she needs to finish this report before she goes home, so she’ll stay all night if she has to. She takes another swig of coffee and hunkers down.

  


It’s 8:30 when Zoey finally powers her computer down. She realizes absentmindedly that she hasn’t eaten, aside from the chocolate-heaped waffles she had this morning from the waffle bar. The coffee has effectively suppressed her appetite for most of the day. Now, though, she could really go for some cheap, shitty tacos. She gets up and grabs her bag, and looks up for the first time in hours. 

Max is standing by her desk, and she jumps at the sight of him.

“Uh.. hi?” she says. She really thought she was the only one still in the office.

“Hey. Uh, I just wanted to check if you’re doing okay.”

It brings all the stress and worry that had been lingering at the back of her mind to the forefront and she sighs and shrugs. “Right now I’m more hungry than anything.”

“Shitty taco stand?”

She grins in spite of herself. How does he know her so goddamn well? “Shitty taco stand.”

The taco stand is about a mile or so away from the office, so they could have easily driven over, but they decide to walk instead. They walk in silence. It’s a comfortable silence, it almost always is with Max. But it means that Zoey’s mind has all this time to worry.

  


After they get their tacos, Max finally speaks. “So, how are you doing?”

She sits down on the curb, and he follows suit. “Still processing. Like, my dad was doing better, but this is just a big setback and.. we can’t lose him. I don’t know how my mom would survive, and it would be crazy if he never got to meet his grandchild. And I would just…” She trails off, voice thick with tears.

He rubs her shoulder and she can’t help but sigh. He spent all of last night rescuing her, and he’s _still_ here.

“And, like,” she says, trying to move on to another subject so she doesn’t start full-on sobbing, “Simon didn’t show up to work today. I think I really messed things up for him.”

Max pauses for a second, then: “You really like him, don’t you?”

What the hell is Zoey supposed to say to that? Yes, she really likes him. Or, did. She’s still trying to sort through her feelings. Zoey knows Max had a thing for her, and, based on the song from last night, maybe still does? Is she really supposed to tell Max about her feelings for a guy that isn’t him? That feels… wrong, with what she knows. But she doesn’t know what else to say, and her brain’s too exhausted to figure out a better response.

“Yeah, I mean… I didn’t know he was engaged when I first, you know, started having feelings for him. It doesn’t matter now, anyway. I’m just afraid he’ll never talk to me again. I still wanna be friends with him.”

“Well, I’m sure he’ll come around.”

“I just feel so bad.” Zoey rests her head on her knees. “Jessica was really nice to me, too, and I just went and messed everything up.”

Max is rubbing her back now, tacos all but forgotten. “I’m sure she’ll forgive you eventually. You’re a really likeable person, Zoey. She’d be a fool not to mend things up with you.”

“Maybe. It’s just like my whole life went to shit in one night.” Why is she tearing up again? God, girl get a grip. “I’m just so overwhelmed.” 

And, to her horror, a small sob escapes her. She rubs her face quickly, but Max pulls her into his arms and then she loses all control. 

  


She’s not sure how long she spends sobbing in Max’s arms, just knows that the tacos are cold by the time she can catch her breath enough to go back to eating them.

They pick at the cold tacos while walking back to the work parking lot. Zoey keeps her mouth clamped shut. She’s pretty close with Max, but she still feels embarrassed after full-on sobbing in his arms. He already had to deal with her mess last night, and now she put him through it all again.

  


When they get back to the parking lot, she takes his taco remnants and throws both of their leftovers in the trash. When she gets back to her car he’s standing there waiting for her. It gives her a warm, butterfly-like feeling in her stomach.

She sighs and he pulls her into a hug. 

“Sorry to make you deal with my mess again,” she mumbles into his shoulder.

He lets go of her and grabs her shoulders. He looks into her eyes with such an intensity that she can barely hold his gaze. “Zoey, I will always be here to deal with your mess. Don’t apologize. If you ever need anything I will be here.”

She swallows hard and looks away. “Yeah, thanks Max. Means a lot.”

He gives her another quick hug, says goodnight, and heads across the parking lot to his car.

  


Zoey just leans against the side of her car for a bit, watching him leave, heart in her throat. She feels both eternally grateful and more overwhelmed. He’s being so kind to her, but is this because he has feelings for her? Does she have feelings back? 

She hasn’t even started the process of getting over Simon yet so how is she supposed to assess this situation objectively?

She finally gets into her car and begins the drive back to her apartment. She turns her music up so loud she can barely hear her thoughts. Her life is a mess and her feelings are very tangled and confusing, but she focuses on one thought over all the others: no matter what she’s dealing with, Max is a friend who will be there for her. And if nothing else, it makes her feel a little warmer. The headache, the coffee jitters, the swollen eyes. All of it seems a little less aggravating. It’s all overshadowed by the radiating warmth of Max’s care for her. And though she’ll have to deal with Max’s feelings later, right now knowing how much he cares for her is enough.


End file.
